While I think it's pretty much inevitable that he will join them onstage for a one-off performance at some point, I ended up voting the 25% Roth option for MP to return permanently. At this point in time, I don't see it happening for all the reasons already mentioned (level of authority MP would be given, MM would have to leave of his own volition, conflict with JL, etc), but never say never. I will say that *if* he was to return, I imagine that MP *would* be willing to play MM-era songs. There'd probably only be one or two in any given setlist, but I don't think he would completely disavow that part of the catalog.
I have never heard this before in relation to his 'mindset.' Has he said this before somewhere? I wouldn't say the band now don't have a mindset geared towards their fans though. I just meant more his character, attitude, stage presence and drumming in comparison to MM.
MP has always stated that he looks at things from a fan's standpoint. That's why he did all the extras that he did (official boots, rotating setlists, etc), worked closely with the fan clubs, encouraged the rest of the band to do stuff like the audio commentaries for their videos and had more direct involvement with the fans than the other guys. I think after MP left, it forced the rest of the guys to up their game and for some time they did have more of a presence, but to a large degree things reverted back to the way they were by the end of the first album cycle.
The return of LTE seemed much more bombastic in the DT discussion groups than it actually was.
Huh? Not sure I'm following what you're saying. Care to clarify?
Portnoy's return would likely be a pebble in the ocean, not a big splash in the lake. I think some of your overestimating his drawing power. Go back and look at the shitholes Sons of Apollo played on their first tour. That never happens if Portnoy was as big of a draw as some are implying. Not saying there aren't fans who are less likely to go to shows now who would be more likely to go if he was back, but it's most likely a pretty small percentage.
Not saying that his hypothetical return would be that huge, but it might be at least a bit more than you think. In terms of the places SoA has played, exactly how big were the places that Bruce Dickinson and Rob Halford played after they left their respective bands? I don't think they were significant either. Not saying MP returning would have the same impact on the band's popularity or draw that Bruce and Rob had, but it would be something. As Madman Shepherd mentioned, nostalgia does play a roll, although it's up for debate as to how long that upswing in popularity would last.
But was there a significant drop in financial terms after MP's departure? I honestly can't answer that.
I doubt it. If anything, I think it causes a spike in their popularity.
At least initially, sure, but long term it's hard to say. I think they did lose a certain measure of their popularity over the years. Can't remember when it was, but I was shocked to hear several years ago (I wanna say 2014 or 2015) that Steven Wilson headlined over DT at some European festival. Now I know Steven's probably grown in popularity a bit, but enough so that the festival organizers felt he was a bigger draw than DT? Never mind that TA probably set them back a bit in terms of the band's popularity (and I'm not just talking about the poorly planned second North American tour in support of the album). To help them regain that popularity, they did back to back tours where they performed their 2 most popular albums in their entirety; it would be interesting to know how successful they were in doing so.